Telescope buying tips
If a telescope is on your shopping list, considering a few things will help ensure it provides years of discovery instead of an expensive place to hang clothes.
Posted — UpdatedTelescopes are popular holiday gifts that can open up new worlds of exploration or they can be an expensive source of frustration. Selecting the right telescope for that special person on your list doesn't have to be hard once you understand a few terms.
But don't wait too long to decide. Backyard astronomy has been a popular hobby during the pandemic and retailer’s inventories reflect this.
Where to buy
The area’s only dedicated telescope store, Big Bang Astronomy, closed their Duraleigh Road store about a decade ago. Area camera stores have also phased out telescopes from their inventories recently. Big box and even chain drug stores tend to carry telescopes around the holidays, but quality varies widely.
Camera Corner (Camcor) in Burlington can offer help in selecting the right telescope for you and your family, but inventories are low.
“We try to keep a variety in stock, but only have 3 in the warehouse right now.” said Camcor's Bill Liszka. “I’ve got more on order from Celestron but don’t know when they’ll be in.”
You may have better luck from big online retailers such as Amazon as well as the big photo/video retailers in New York like B&H Photo and Adorama as well as directly from manufacturers.
What to buy
Features to consider
Tripods
WRAL photojournalist Richard Adkins wields a tripod for a living. Whether it’s a 4K video camera capturing news or telescope capturing a distant moon, the results depend on the stability of the base they are mounted on.
“Like any system, it’s only as good as its weakest link.” explains Richard. “Think of that telescope as a giant zoom lens, the slightest movement, wind, vibrations can make it hard to target an object exceptionally far away.”
Richard’s advice on selecting a tripod? “avoid lightweight cheap things such as like white plastics and lightweight aluminum… if it feels cheap, it is cheap.”
The $19.99 telescopes that show up in chain drug store once the Halloween candy is cleared out are actually better than what Galileo himself used to observe the moons of Jupiter and phases of Venus. It's the thin aluminum tripod legs held together with cheaply made plastic hardware that creates a frustratingly unstable base.
Other items for under the tree
Also, consider an age appropriate astronomy book. Some of my favorites are
- Find the Constellations and The Stars: A New Way to See Them, both are by H.A. Rey (Curious George author)
- Turn Left at Orion: Hundreds of Night Sky Objects to See in a Home Telescope - and How to Find Them, by Guy Consolmagno and Dan M. Davis. Consolmagno is also known as the "Pope's Astronomer", this research astronomer is also Director of the Vatican Observatory)
- There's No Place Like Space: All About Our Solar System (Cat in the Hat's Learning Library) by Tish Rabe
- Constellations for Kids: An Easy Guide to Discovering the Stars, by Kelsey Johnson
Be sure to also have a way for little astronomers to reach the eyepiece. Holding them up doesn't work, they wont see anything. This is a lesson I've learned during years of volunteering at observing sessions sponsored by the Morehead Planetarium.
A small stepladder with a hand grip will give kids something to hold as they peer into the lens. This prevents grabbing onto the telescope which at best knocks it out of alignment and at worst send them and the telescope tumbling.
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